He Created a Social Pariah
by Anguisette
Summary: Derek, at his most obnoxious and devious, found a new way to torture Casey: use his influence to make it impossible for her to get a date. Obviously a Dasey.
1. I'm Just Such a Social Reject

**A/N: I (obviously) do not own Life With Derek. If I did, I doubt I would be writing fanfiction. I would probably be contributing to writing the episodes. I won't spend my days mourning that I don't own it, though I'm beginning to go mad from the tension between Derek and Casey.**

I'm Just _Such_ a Social Reject

"Em, I just don't _get_ it!" Casey's voice was rising to a shriek. "Am I just some kind of social _pariah?"_

Emily was not well-versed in the art of comfort. "Well, Casey…"

"What?" Her voice was high and frantic. _"What?"_

"I mean…" Emily didn't look like she quite knew how to phrase it. "You don't really make an effort, do you?" She cleared her throat, well aware of Casey's volatile tendencies. "There was the blind date thing that Kendra set up. That made you look kind of desperate, you know? And you're a bit of grade grubber. And you're still Klutzilla. Is it really that…" She hesitated. "Surprising?"

Casey collapsed into a chair. "You're right!" She sniffled. "I'm terrible. I'm such a social reject." 

Emily shifted. "Casey, it's not that bad."

"Of course it is!" And now she was half-screaming. If she hadn't already been in her room, it was probable she would be storming off to it. "Em, since Sam and I broke up, the only dates I've been on were with _Scott."_

"And the—"

_"The blind dates Kendra set up don't count!" _she said in a rush. "If they did, I would be even _worse_ off. Why doesn't _anyone_ like me?" Her head was in her hands.

"Maybe if you went to more parties?"

"I'm _not_ going to something _Derek_ thinks is _cool."_

"Well, Casey, if you want to be cool, you can't ignore Derek." Emily, in Casey's opinion, was so enamored with Derek because _she_ didn't have to live with him. Once you lived with Derek, you knew he was a disgusting, obnoxious snob.

It wasn't that she hated him. It wasn't even that he was the most terrible brother she could have had, because he wasn't—though he had been. Briefly.

But he was still a slob, he was still obnoxious, and he still drove her insane.

"I don't want to be _cool._ I just don't want to be a com_plete_ _out_cast." She was pacing again. "Is that too much to ask?"

Emily looked at the clock. Casey had the distinct feeling she was trying to escape. "I have to get home."

Casey wrinkled her nose. "Sorry."

Emily waved a hand at her. "I'm not used to it by now?" She left the room, calling "Bye, Case!" as she bounced down the stairs.

Casey looked toward the clock. It read 6:23, which meant that dinner would be soon. She started to pull books out of her backpack, intending to get started studying for the history text next week.

"Thank god she's gone," drawled a voice from her doorway.

"Go away, Derek," she said, without looking at him.

"I don't want to." She had still not quite learned how to handle this sort of situation. If she ignored him, he would become more of a pest to get a rise out of her. If she acknowledged him, he would just bait her into a fight. If she attacked him, he played the martyr, and then attacked her back. With better ammunition.

"You must be lonely, if you're seeking out my company." She tried to concentrate on her notes.

"Not lonely. Bored." His voice was flat, and she knew it was inviting some kind of challenge.

She did her best to ignore it. "Don't have a date with Kendra tonight? Oh, wait!" She gave a fake little gasp. "I forgot! You broke up!"

He didn't reply for a moment, and she looked up. He was staring at her. _"That's_ the best you could come up with?" he demanded. His face looked horrified. "That I got bored of a girl?" He shook his head. "You're losing it, Case." He turned and walked away, and she could hear his door close.

She smirked. Score one for Casey. She could never get rid of Derek that easily. And she was the one losing it?


	2. I Totally Made Her a Social Reject

**A/N: I still don't own Life With Derek, nor am I ever likely to own more than the series on DVD. This is my first LWD fanfic. I do appreciate constructive criticism, but stupid flames will only show that you're a loser—so don't do them.**

**Enjoy.**

I Totally Made Her a Social Reject

Derek liked to torture his stepsister. He had been told that it made him a bad brother, but he hadn't been told that by very many people. And, if reality is not to be ignored, let's face it: Derek, Casey. Derek, Casey. Whose side are most people going to jump to?

It was really her relationship with Sam that had given him the idea. Then the thing with Scott? It cinched it. How better to torture Casey than convince her that no one could _possibly_ find her attractive?

Hole in one.

And it served the double purpose of avoiding another situation like Scott again. Do that sort of thing too much, and he could find himself in a very messy situation. If someone like Scott was dating Casey, then it reflected badly on him. Derek's stepsister, being involved with someone like that, without Derek _doing_ anything? That would lose him some definite points with the ladies. But defend Casey—do the _right thing_—and he'd lose _face._ He would be defending _Casey._ _Again._ He was not going to be put in _that_ situation.

So he found the perfect solution. Save his face _and_ torture Casey. A few mentions of a fake boyfriend here, a few insinuations about her getting too involved emotionally with the guys she dated, a couple complaints that Sam had never really voiced, and there you had it: Casey up the dating creek.

He was especially proud that he was getting to her. Even if she didn't know it was him. Getting Kendra to set her up with the weirdest losers of the school had been a stroke of genius. Who would go after someone so pathetic that not even _they_ would date her?

He was closing his door when he realized that it was possible that his quick retreat had indicated to Casey that her pathetic crack about Kendra might have bothered him. That was a problem, especially because it hadn't. Kendra was too neat, and after what she tried at that party, he was _done_ with her.

Derek had discovered from Emily shortly after that that Casey had been the reason Kendra had thought it was okay. He had to admire that ruthlessness, and took a certain kind of perverse pleasure in the way that he had brought it out in her so beautifully. If he hadn't been tired of Kendra, he might have been a little annoyed, but at the end of the day, she was just another chick.

And, hell, if he'd wanted to date someone so big on studying, he would've just dated Casey.

Derek cupped his hands to his mouth, and shouted, "Edwin! Get up here!" He waited a few seconds, and then shouted again. "Edwin! _Now!"_

There was a thump: Casey had just kicked the wall. "I'm trying to _study!"_

"What else is new?" he yelled back at her.

His door opened. "You yelled?"

He'd raised Edwin right.

"Sit." Derek pointed at the floor. "And door."

Edwin obeyed. Now, if Casey and Lizzie were as good as Edwin was, the house would be so much more peaceful.

"Now, Ed, I've been playing a little… prank. But I need to take it to the next level." He tossed a baseball up in the air. "Talk to me." He caught it.

"Well, what's your prank?" The perfect picture of a _helpful_ little brother.

"It's about Casey." Derek tossed the ball up in the air again, and caught it.

"If it's a recent prank, it really does need work. She hasn't seemed especially angry at you lately." He was obviously forgetting about the shampoo incident, but that was tame, as Derek went; he didn't blame Edwin for forgetting something so minor.

"Oh, it's been in the works for awhile." Derek smirked. She was going to kill him when she found out. He would be shocked if anyone would be allowed out of the house for years, once she blew. Forget that—he would be shocked if no one ended up with a broken limb. But that was just the fun with Casey—she couldn't get away from him, so there weren't any limits on what he could do.

Edwin was frowning at him in a way that reminded him of that commandment about false idols. _Eat your heart out, God, this one's all mine._ "This wouldn't have anything to do with Casey's dating pool drying up, would it?"

"Oh, Ed, don't give credit where it isn't due. It's not like it was full to begin with." He felt a certain amount of pleasure when he added, "But I'm certainly keeping the clouds away."

"She's going to kill you," Edwin breathed. He was still in awe. As Derek thought he should be: this was one of his best pranks yet. "How did you do it?"

"A few rumors here, a few lies there. A few well-placed comments about how lowly I would look upon any guy who dated my stepsister, especially after all that she put poor Sam through."

"All that she put Sam through?" Edwin seemed a tad puzzled.

Derek groaned. "God, Edwin, do I have to spell _everything_ out for you? I've just… exaggerated the more terrible parts of their relationship. Sam is just too good to admit it. Who wouldn't believe that?"

Edwin was starting to grin. "And who would doubt the word of the great Derek Venturi?"

"Now you're getting it." Derek tossed the baseball in the air again, and laughed. His laugh was a tad bit sinister, in an ultimately un-physically-threatening sort of way. He caught the ball, and sat up. "But now I need to kick it up a notch. It's starting to bother her. That means that she's ready for the next step."

"What's the next step?" His loyal, overeager brother was such a useful thing to have around.

"I don't _know,_ Edwin. That's why you're here." His voice had a degree of exasperation in it, and Edwin knew that he meant business.

"You know that she's going to kill you, right?"

"Yes, Edwin, I know. Get back on what I'm asking you to do." Derek was pleased with the expected results.

Edwin was starting to frown. "I think I may have an idea." He held up his hands in self-defense, quickly. "I don't know yet!"

"Well, come to me when you do know." Derek flopped back down, and resumed tossing the baseball. "Dismissed." Edwin got up to go, and Derek added, "Make sure you do _know_ soon."

Edwin gulped, and made from the room. Derek knew he could count on Ed—he'd have an answer (or three) within a day or two, and it wouldn't hurt him to wait a few more days. Not for a prank _this_ big.


	3. Don't Taunt the Tiger

**A/N: For those who have not see the "Crushing the Coach" episode, and therefore do not know who Scott is, Scott is Lizzie's soccer coach and first crush, not a figment of my imagination or an especially important plot point. He hits on Casey, and ends up taking her out on two dates. After the first, he admits to Derek that he is coaching the soccer team so he can date the team's older sisters; Casey is the fourth, and he is dating all simultaneously. Derek goes briefly insane, as he feels that he needs to intervene but does not want to be caught doing the right thing. Aided by Edwin, he confronts Scott when he brings Casey home from the second date by inviting all three other sisters over after telling them the truth about Scott. Scott ends up humiliated, and Derek ends up having done the right thing _and_ on a date with one of the other soccer sisters. Lizzie does not know this about Scott because Derek, Casey, and Edwin all agreed that it was best not to tell her, so she could remember her first crush fondly.**

Don't Taunt the Tiger  


Casey hated to have to do this. She _really_ hated having to do this. Emily had had a point, though; if anyone was worshipped in their school, it was Derek. And if anyone was a womanizing pig, it was Derek. And if anyone knew why every guy in the school seemed to develop an allergy to her whenever she started to befriend them, it would be Derek.

It _would_ be Derek. She would rather have asked Marti for help.

It had to be Derek.

All through dinner, Edwin had been smiling tightly at everyone who even glanced his way. When he scurried past her in the hallway toward his room, she was suddenly inclined to ask what on earth Derek was plotting that was making Edwin do that.

But no. She was on a mission. And anyway, it wasn't her business. After that shampoo incident, she could at least expect to be free of Derek-planned pranks for another day or two. Time was that Derek's pranks never stopped, but since she and Sam had dated, Derek's pranks had started to tone down from hourly sessions of torture to semi-daily demonstrations of dominance.

Not that he _was_ dominant. Usually. She knew that he would see this as a victory, but there just wasn't any way around it. She'd asked Sam, but he had given a vague and noncommittal answer, and told her that he really didn't know. And she couldn't push it further because, hello? Ex-boyfriend. That meant that relationship talk had to be kept at an absolute minimum.

So that left Derek.

She knocked at the door. His voice—cocky, confident, and obnoxious—called out, "Enter!"

She opened the door and stepped inside. Gathering all her courage (and abandoning all her pride), she closed the door behind her.

Derek looked up at her from his bed. "You're not Edwin."

Casey gave him a look that she hoped would scream mockery and stupidity right in his ears. "Yes, I know."

He sighed. "You know, you give the kid an errand. Make him feel part of something. Then he takes hours to find a game plan. I should fire him." He gave her a falsely melancholy look. "But you don't want to hear about Ed and my games. So out with it. What do you want?"

She twirled a bit of hair on her finger, mulling the words over in her head. He rolled his eyes, got up, and started pushing her toward the door. She panicked; she didn't think that, once expelled, she would have the courage to come _back_ here again on this mission.

"Derek, stop!" Her voice was a little shrill.

He stopped, although he stopped long enough after she'd told him to that she knew he'd pushed her further simply to prove that could. Then he retreated back to the bed, and flopped down again. "So, what do you need my help with today?"

"Why aren't any guys asking me out on dates?" She felt out of place and vulnerable, and she knew that he was about to laugh.

He did. "If I tell you, what will you give me in return?"

"Huh?" Derek was so _selfish_ sometimes. Life in this house would run much smoother if Derek did something once in a while to benefit someone in the house _without_ needing to get something back.

"Casey. Casey, Casey, Casey." He smirked at her. "You don't really think I'm just going to help you out of the goodness of my heart, do you?"

"No, that would be the human thing to do," she snapped.

He put a hand over his heart. "I'm wounded." She tapped her foot. He spread his hands out. "I can't help you unless you make me some kind of deal."

"I'll do the dishes for you tomorrow night."

Derek let out a laugh. "Nice try. Tomorrow's _your_ turn."

_Of all the times for Derek to start paying attention to the schedules, _she thought. An idea occurred to her, and she said, hesitantly, "I suppose I can put off doing my paper and help you study for the history test."

She'd caught him off-guard, and she could tell that he was very, very confused. "Okay. Casey. One, why do I care how I do, and two, why would I start studying _now?_ It's not until some time next week. Or the week after." He shrugged. "You're really losing it."

Casey forced an incredulous look onto her face. Life with Derek had taught her that lies could be necessary for a peaceful household. "Derek, that test is _tomorrow."_

He shook his head. "Case, if it was, you wouldn't have had Emily over here for a gossip session. And, by the way, next time keep it down. The rest of us don't care that you can't get a date."

Apparently life with Derek hadn't taught her how to lie _well._

"Please?" Grovelling for Derek was at the top of her list of things she never wanted to do, but she felt desperate. And she felt the words slipping out of her mouth against her own volition. "Derek, I'm your _sister."_

He gave what almost looked like an involuntary spasm. _"Step-_sister. _Step."_

"Whatever."

Derek appeared to be considering it. "I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart," he warned. "You'll have to pay me back, sometime. Somehow." He swung his legs over, and settled his feet on the ground. He leaned forward. "Now, Casey. Part of the problem is that, well, people _saw_ your relationship with Sam. You were _such_ a pain."

"Did Sam tell you that?" Casey was taken aback. That didn't _sound_ like Sam.

Derek laughed. "Casey, he didn't _have_ to. Come on. 'Sam,'" he said, putting on what was obviously a supposed to be a bad imitation of her voice. "'Do you want to do something after school today?' 'Sure, Casey,'" he answered, deepening his voice. "'I'd love to.' 'Well,'" Derek pitched his voice high again. "'Well, I was thinking maybe a movie.' 'Sure. What do you want to see?' 'God, Sam, don't you _care?'_ 'If you're happy, I'm happy.' 'Why, because I'm just a _wreck_ when I'm not happy? Because I'm too _annoying_ when I'm unhappy?' 'Casey, that's not what I said.'" Derek now added a note of hysteria to his voice. "'No, just what you meant!' And then," he said, "you stomp away."

She blushed. "Is that all?"

"There are other things that not everyone is as tolerant of as I am." She wanted to smack him. "I'm sure you're familiar with them." He ticked them off on his fingers. "Klutzilla. Grade grubber. Control freak."

"Derek, I get it!" she shrieked. "What can I _do?"_

He sighed. "I _suppose_ I _might_ be able to put in a good word for you with _someone…"_

She felt a thrill of unease settle in her stomach, and tried to ignore it. "Okay."

"What do you say?" he prodded.

Casey sighed. "Thank you, Derek."

He nodded, placated. "Good. Now go."

She wrinkled her nose. She didn't want to follow his orders, and she didn't like the way that he assumed that she _would._ But at the same time… insulting him right now might not help her. So she left, feeling strange and bothered.

And as she tended to do when she felt strange and bothered, she barged in Lizzie's room. "Lizzie, I just did something really stupid."

"What this time?" Lizzie sounded exasperated. Casey assumed it wasn't important, and began to spill.

"I just made a deal with Derek."

"No!"

"Yes," Casey confirmed miserably. "I don't know what got into me. I'm just so _tired_ of not having _anyone_ interested in dating me, and everyone likes Derek, and…" She sunk into a chair and put her head in her hands. "Liz, why did I do that?"

"That was really dumb."

"Yes, I _know,_ Lizzie. What do I _do_ about it?"

She could see Lizzie thinking. "So, let me make sure I've got this straight. You're having dating problems, so you asked _Derek_ to help."

"Was that stupid?"

"Well…" her voice trailed off. "Um. Maybe not?"

"What do you mean, _maybe?_ Don't you mean _definitely?"_

"Casey!" Casey looked up. "Snap out of it!" She got up and started pacing. "Look, Case, I don't think that Derek is incapable of doing good things for you. They just usually come with strings attached. And," she pointed out, "Derek has always acted odd where you and dating are concerned."

"No he hasn't." Casey thought about it. "He has?"

"Well, with Sam. Okay, fine, he didn't want you stealing his best friend. But I'm not sure that was _all_ of it."

"Then what was it?"

"I think he was uncomfortable with the idea of watching his best friend with you, because it turned you into a girlfriend."

"_Derek doesn't want to date me!" _Casey said violently, horrified.

"Of course he doesn't," Lizzie said, looking equally horrified. "But Edwin and I think that he doesn't know where you fit in here, yet, and that he doesn't want any more complications."

"You and Edwin have been talking about me?" Casey felt, very suddenly, very strange.

"Research," Lizzie said dismissively. "The point is, he doesn't want a new variable added to you yet. I still think that Derek somehow got rid of Scott, and he somehow convinced Scott to lie about it."

"And he sabotaged the blind dates, too!" Casey exclaimed. Aha.

"Exactly."

Casey felt a brief touch of success, and then realized that it got her nowhere. "So what does that mean?"

Lizzie smiled. "That teenagers are weird, and that there is research to be done."


	4. Give the Kitten Some Catnip

**A/N: I have a feeling that this may end up turning T. Would that be a problem for anyone?**

**As a vain, vain little girl, I do like reviews. Therefore—give them.**

Give the Kitten Some Catnip

When Edwin returned to Derek's room later that night, Derek was quite pleased. He stopped being quite so pleased when Edwin began by asking questions.

"Why don't you want Casey to date?" Edwin looked a little on edge. Derek was quite sure it was because Edwin had that healthy fear of his older brother, which rather pleased him.

Derek was less pleased by the question. "Because, Edwin, I _do_ want to make her go nuts."

Edwin frowned. "But Derek, isn't this a little involved for a prank?"

Derek shook his head. "Ed, you have a lot to learn. _Nothing_ is too much when you're pulling a prank. Especially if it's on Casey."

"Oh." Edwin was a little too quiet a little too long.

"What?"

"Nothing," Edwin said quickly.

Derek nodded in approval. "I thought so. Do you have your answer for me?"

"Well…" Edwin started, but then his voice trailed off. "Derek, you know, _I_ don't dislike Casey."

"So?" Derek thought he knew where this was going, but it would make Edwin uncomfortable to force it out, and with what he was going to say, he deserved to feel a little uncomfortable.

"I just feel kind of bad," he squeaked.

Derek considered, for a moment, how best to deal with this. He decided on the easiest method. "Too bad."

Edwin sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that. I do have an idea, I guess."

"Then what _is_ it?" Derek was very, very sick of waiting.

"Do any of those girls you date have brothers?"

Derek shrugged. "I'm sure some of them must."

"Just think how embarrassing it would be if the only way Casey could get a date would be to double date with… you," Edwin pointed out.

"That's brilliant, Ed!" And it was. He loved it. And he knew that Casey would be feeling desperate enough to take him up on it if he offered, which made it even better. Humiliation. Total humiliation. All that he needed to do was make sure that the dude didn't actually end up _liking_ Casey.

He grabbed his phone, and started to dial Sandra's number.

"Can I go?"

He looked up at Edwin. "Yeah, sure."

"Hello?" She had picked up.

"Sandra?" he asked. "It's Derek."

Her reaction was exactly what he'd expected it to be, and what every girl's reaction _should_ be.

"Derek! Hi! How are you?" She was giggling like mad, and he smirked. This was what Casey just didn't understand; girls _worshipped_ him. So no wonder she wasn't the most popular, even without his influencing the guys. He wouldn't stop her from having _friends. _He wasn't heartless. But god, what did she think was going to happen when she went around complaining about the _great_ Derek Venturi?

"I'm actually wondering something," he asked. "You have a brother, don't you?"

"Hmm? Yeah, Alex," she answered. She sounded a little confused.

"How old is he again?" Derek was crossing his fingers for a year younger; that would be the icing on the cake.

"He's about a year and a half older than me."

Damn. "Well, I'm wondering something. See, my stepsister has been having a little trouble getting a date," he said, a little conspiratorially. "And, as a dutiful stepbrother, I thought it would be nice of me to arrange a double date."

There was a pause. "That's really nice of you, Derek," she said. Her voice was a little gooey, he was pleased to note. A reputation for being a good brother couldn't hurt.

_Step_brother. A reputation for being a good _stepbrother._

Get it right.

"Yeah, well," he said, letting a note of bashfulness creep into his voice. "It's the least I can do, considering that she had to give up the most when our parents got married."

"Of course," she said. "Just let me ask him." Derek waited, drumming his fingers on his bed. After a moment, she got back on the line. "He says he'd love to."

Derek smirked. "Beautiful. Shall we call it Friday at eight?"

She giggled. "That sounds good."

He hung up, and didn't move for a minute. He felt inordinately pleased with himself. This was going to make Casey feel very, very uncomfortable.

Silly her. She came to _him._ It worked into his plan _beautifully._

After a moment, he pulled himself out of bed, and walked into Casey's room. He didn't bother to knock; did he _ever?_

"Derek!" She raised her voice immediately upon his entrance, drawing his name out. "Don't you _ever_ knock?"

He shrugged. "I had some good news. I guess you don't want to hear it."

She blinked. "You have good news for me?"

"God, are you slow?" Derek slid very, very easily into the role of a berating older stepbrother. They'd been playing the game long enough. "You asked me for help earlier. I'm trying to be a nice guy and give it to you. If you've changed your mind, fine."

Her face looked a little frozen, and then her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What do I have to give you?"

He tried to keep his face blank. "I'll give you this first one for free. Because I'm just such a good guy."

Casey still had her eyes narrowed. "Why are you being nice now?"

"What do you mean?" He wasn't quite sure how to respond, especially since he wasn't quite sure what he _meant._

"Derek, you _always_ try to sabotage me. There was Sam—"

He wasn't having that. "I _let_ you date Sam!" It had been jarring, having to share his best friend. It had been especially jarring to share his best friend with a stepsister who he did not quite have a sense of yet.

And, to be perfectly honest, he still didn't have a sense of her.

"—and Trevor—"

"He didn't like you, anyway."

"—were you even okay with me going out with Scott, before he told you?"

There was the kicker. She wasn't supposed to talk about _that._ Doing the right thing was hard, and it was hard enough for him to think about that.

He shrugged noncommittally. "Did I look like I had a problem?" She was still staring at him, and he had a sneaking suspicion that her promised "feel good family moment" might surface. He hastened to say, "You're just not dating any guys like Scott. It looks bad for me."

She was still looking skeptical, so he changed the topic. "Anyway, you know Sandra?"

Casey nodded. Now she was looking a little on edge.

"She has a brother. He's a little older than her."

Casey nodded again.

"Friday night, eight o'clock. We're double dating."

Casey immediately got the look of a deer caught in the headlights. _"We?"_ she demanded, her voice taking on a high-pitched shriek again, "Derek, I am _not_ going on a double date with _you!"_

He shrugged. "Not gonna get the date, then."

She looked conflicted, he was pleased to note. That he was obviously making her feel uncomfortable was just an added bonus.

"Suit yourself," he said, turning around.

"Fine!" That she was agreeing said something about how bothered she was by the situation in general, and it said something very good for him.

He smirked. "His name is Alex."

She looked so lost and unhappy with herself that he almost felt guilty. "Oh. Okay."

"Look, Case…" Now he was feeling guilty. "It's really just because you're new, I'm sure."

"Just go away, Derek." He could hear a little tremor in her voice. He was starting to feel awful.

"I…" He was starting to feel awkward. "It'll be okay," he said, feeling out of place. Then he fled.

When he reached his room, he heard muffled sniffles through the wall. He was starting to feel really, really awful, and he hated feeling like that. This was the complicated thing about having a stepsister his age. Sometimes it meant feeling like he had to do the right thing, and that was the worst feeling in the world.

Especially when it came to dating.

He groaned. Stupid Casey.


	5. Stepbrother

_Step_brother

By the time Friday night rolled around, Casey was a nervous wreck. She was seriously rethinking the fact that she had actually asked Derek for help in the romance department, and she was even more floored that he had actually made an effort to be nice in the past few days. He was up to something. She was sure of it.

Even so, she wanted to look nice. She didn't want to ask Derek for his help again, and his "blessing" always seemed to bode badly, especially where boys were involved.

At six, she began to look through her closet. Derek's voice came from her doorway, and it struck her once again that she really wished he'd _knock._ One of these day, he was going to walk in on her changing on something, and that would be very, very awkward.

On one hand, it would probably cure him from walking in uninvited.

On the other, it would be more embarrassment than it was probably worth to get eventual privacy.

"Trying to pick out an outfit?" He had a little bit of awkward mixed in with his usual self-assured manner of speech. It was a similar kind of awkward that she imagined would happen if he walked in on her.

"Do you care?" She was not going to be taken off-guard. It was bad enough that she was doing this.

He sighed, and she could tell that he wanted to leave. What surprised her was that, instead, he walked over to stand next to her. When he plunged his hands into _her_ clothing, however, she started to protest. Before she had even entirely processed what he was doing, he was shoving some clothing in her hands, and muttering something about it looking good together.

She blinked at him. He sighed again, very uncharacteristically, and said, his eyes on the floor, "Look, Case. I'm a guy. He'll love the outfit."

"Thank you, Derek," she said, trying to figure out whether to be touched.

He backed away, as if he was frightened she was going to try to claim some kind of hug. "It's just so you keep him occupied."

At this point, she knew him well enough to know that he did have a tendency to want to save face, so she let him have it. "I'll do my best."

He exited the room quickly, and Casey braced a chair against her doorknob before she dressed, in a preemptive strike against the possibility of Derek seeing her half-naked.

When she exited her room half an hour, she felt a little uneasy for taking Derek's clothing advice. It wasn't like he had any reason to do her a good turn, and honestly, he was more concerned with how girls looked _without_ clothing than how they looked with it. She didn't think she looked like a tramp, but she supposed it was possible that she did. She was probably just so thrown by Derek pretending to act like a human being.

But as she went downstairs, her mother looked up. "Casey, you look very nice," she said, approvingly.

Casey shot a quick look at Derek, surprised. He rolled his eyes at her. "I'm seeing too much Casey skin. It's going to throw off my appetite."

She decided not to embarrass him in front of her mother. "I don't think _anything_ could throw off _your_ appetite."

"If anything could," he shot back, turning back to the television, "it would be you."

"And yet, I've lived here for long enough that if you were going to waste away, I imagine you would have," she tossed back. She settled on the couch next to her other. "You seem to be as substantial as ever."

"Casey, Derek," her mother warned. Nora appeared to be trying to do some paperwork.

"Yeah, Casey." Derek sneered at her.

"You were the one who said that I put you off your appetite."

He paused for effect. "You _do."_ She thought he was overcompensating for being nice.

Nora sighed. "You guys, please. I'm trying to finish this up."

"Sorry," Casey said.

Derek just leaned back in his chair. "So, what _are_ you working on, Nora?"

"Oh, just some stuff for work," she told him absentmindedly. "I want to get it done so we can finally take Marti to the zoo this weekend." Marti had been bothering them about seeing the "other kitties" for the last two weeks.

Derek smiled in the amused sort of way that he generally kept reserved for Marti or her antics. Seeing him without a smirk on his face made Casey see, very briefly, what some of the girls at school might possibly see as attractive.

They, of course, did not see his smirk in their doorways as they were trying to concentrate on their homework.

Lucky them.

She sat back and watched tv for awhile; Derek, astonishingly, did not have it on a hockey game or on some objectifying show that featured nothing but scantily-clad women. After awhile, Nora got up to start making dinner, and at quarter to eight, Derek shot a glance at Casey.

"Time to go," he said.

She felt her stomach drop out from underneath her. "Maybe I shouldn't go."

His face looked so conflicted and contorted that she almost laughed. "I have _done_ my good deed of the month," he hissed. "I am _not_ going to do anything else. I'm going. You can come or not."

Casey groaned, and followed him to the door. "Don't embarrass me."

He rolled his eyes. "Case, you embarrass yourself without my help." He unlocked the car, and got in. She walked around to the other side and slid into the passenger seat. She was pulling on her seatbelt when he said, hesitantly, "Casey?"

She buckled it and looked at him, feeling a little uneasy. "Yes?"

"You do look nice tonight." As if to remind her that he was, indeed, still himself, he gave a quick smirk. "Maybe this guy will actually like you."

She blushed. "At least I look better than you."

His smirk deepened. "Only because I helped you."

She sat back. "Just drive."

The smirk didn't leave his face.


	6. Stepsister

**A/N: I've been trying to upload this for several days, and it hasn't worked. So, I'm sorry it took so long.**

_Step_sister

Much as he hated to admit it, Casey really _did_ look nice. Well, of course she would. He had picked out her outfit, and no one knew what looked good on a chick better than he did.

Telling her that had meant doing a nice thing, though, and that bothered him. He wished already that he hadn't. She had a stupid little smile on her face, like he was really going to start being a dutiful brother or something.

And, when she got out of the car with him to go to Sandra's door, he realized something else he hadn't quite considered.

She looked _hot._ And she was not, in fact, his sister, nor had she been his stepsister long enough for him to start to have any real brotherly feelings toward her. He certainly had not really developed an aversion to thinking about her in a more sexual manner.

So he had dressed her up in clothes that he thought looked hot.

That had been terribly stupid of him. He groaned out loud, and she looked back at him.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I'd forgotten. Sandra's brother being here is _probably_ going to make it a little harder to make out with Sandra." He smirked at her. Inside, he was still feeling very unsettled and unhinged, but what was he going to do about it?

She rolled her eyes, obviously not surprising by his typical Derek response, and rang the doorbell. He allowed himself a few brief moments of reminding himself that she was his _step_sister, which made a momentary attraction not quite as terrible as it might be.

Alex opened the door. Derek realized that he had seen this kid around school; he wasn't terrible-looking, even if he _did_ have a bad haircut. He greeted Casey with a smile and a kiss on the cheek, and Derek tensed.

"Hey, Derek." Sandra joined them, and kissed him. He didn't react as quickly as he might have if her brother had not been _all over_ his sister, and she pulled back and looked at him curiously. "Is everything okay?"

He forced a smile onto his face. "Absolutely." He bent down to kiss her. In the back of his head, he realized that it probably said something disturbing about his psyche that he could find his stepsister attractive one minute—and use the fact that she was his _step_sister to excuse it—and then use the fact that she was his step_sister_ the next to justify being annoyed at some guy putting his hands all over her.

Well, maybe his hands weren't _all_ over her, but it was close enough. He was touching her, at any rate. And he was moving too quickly. He had another thing coming if he thought Derek Venturi's sister was a slut.

_Step_sister. She was only his _step_sister. But that didn't mean that just anyone could look at her.

This was going to be a long night.

Sandra broke away from his kiss and smiled up at him. He put his arm around her, and smirked at Casey. She didn't notice, which made him feel rather put-out.

"So," he cleared his throat. "Where for dinner?"

"I'm kind of in the mood of pizza," Casey said.

"Too bad. Sandra, what do you want?"

Casey wasn't the one he was going to do anything with, so he didn't need to keep her happy. Sandra, on the other hand…

Casey glared at him. "Derek."

He shrugged at her. Sandra and Alex both looked momentarily uncomfortable, and then Sandra said, "I was kind of thinking pizza, too."

"Then pizza it is!" The best way, he decided, to avoid the confusion was to simply ignore her.

When Sandra's brother slid into the backseat with Casey, though, Derek's nerves started to fly out the window. He turned around, and shot him a smile. "Just remember that her brother's here, right? Don't make me feel uncomfortable."

Casey looked like she would be less bewildered if someone had hit her over the head with a mallet. "Stepbrother."

Derek waved his hand at her, in an unmistakably rude and discounting sort of way. "It counts."

Casey let out a quick giggle, and he knew that she was thinking of Sam.

He turned the car on, and pulled out.

When they reached the pizza parlor, he could hear Sandra whispering to Casey, "You are so lucky to have an older brother like Derek."

He smirked. Of course she was. Though Sandra really didn't know the half of it, and if she knew how he generally treated Casey, she wouldn't be calling the girl "lucky."

Derek should have known he was in for it when Sandra grabbed Casey's arm (since when had they been friendly, anyway?) and squealed, "POOL!"

He didn't often go to this pizza parlor; he'd forgotten the pool tables. One of them happened to be free. He looked over at Alex, who was smiling at Casey. "Do you like pool?"

She smiled back. "To be honest, I haven't really played it."

"Oh, I can teach you."

Casey blushed, and Derek felt himself tense up. This was his _sister, _man. Show some tact.

The girls started to make their way over to the table, but Derek grabbed Alex's arm.

"Seriously, man. She's my sister."

Alex looked at him like he was crazy. "With what you do to _my_ sister?"

Derek wasn't going to blush. He shrugged. "The difference is that I care enough about my sister to protect her."

Sandra's brother was speechless for a moment. Finally, he managed to choke out, "I've heard you don't even treat her that well."

"What brother does?" Derek made his way over to the girls.

Casey grabbed his arm. "What did you say to him?" she hissed in his ear.

He rolled his eyes. "Geez, Case, say it, don't spray it."

"What did you say?"

He knew she wasn't going to let up unless he gave her _some_ answer. "That you have terrible breath in the morning."

She glared at him, apparently deciding to table the interrogation. As Alex joined them, she instead turned to him, and said, "Can you show me how to shoot?"

Derek stared at her. That wasn't especially characteristically Casey. She stuck her tongue out at him, and he made a face at her in return.

He looked at Sandra. "Let's go pay and get the tray."

She giggled at him, and flipped her hair over her shoulder. They paid, and as they were walking back, Derek holding the tray, he asked, almost hesitantly, "So, what's the deal with your brother?"

She shrugged. "He's not a bad guy."

"Why doesn't he have a girlfriend, then?"

She looked as though she might be offended, but was fighting it off because it was Derek asking the question.

"I don't know. He and his last girlfriend broke up a month or two ago."

He wanted to dig for more, but decided it was better to hold off. "Just wondering." He put his free arm around her. "Look, isn't that cute? They think you can play pool without there being anything on the table."

Alex was demonstrating to Casey how to hold the cue. As they neared, she bent down, and he adjusted her grip. Derek was uncomfortably aware of how short the skirt she was wearing was, and how strange it would look if he kept staring.

He shifted his attention to the girl next to him. "So, Sandra, be on my team?"

She giggled again. "I'm not very good."

"Well, you're no worse than Casey," he assured her. Casey wrinkled her nose at him, and he gave her a mocking smile.

"Just telling it like it is. _Sis."_

"Thanks ever so, _bro."_

"Are you guys always like this?" Alex asked, hesitantly.

"Yes." They said it simultaneously.

Derek decided that this just wouldn't do, and turned on the charm. "We really do love each, deep down." He moved away from Sandra, and slung his arm over his stepsister's shoulder. "Don't we, Case?"

"Absolutely. Now get off me." She pushed him away, but she laughed, even so. "Let's just play."

The game was not especially eventful, other than the fact that Derek won. Sandra hadn't been lying when she had said that she wasn't very good, but she also provided a nice view. Casey was terrible, and Alex just couldn't match Derek.

Because Derek wanted to win, and what Derek wanted, Derek got.

What bothered him much more was the fact that pool was an activity that one often wanted to play with girls who were dressed in a certain way, because it often gave you views that were very, very nice.

But problems really started to arise when it was your stepsister leaning over the table, and you hadn't really started to identify her as being a "sibling" yet.

He wanted to scream. This was not what he had had in mind.

After the game, when they sat down to eat, Alex put his arm around Casey's shoulder, and shot Derek a smile.

Derek wanted to smack him. Instead, he used the arm already around Sandra (hey, who said he wasn't a hypocrite?) to pull her closer, and she giggled again. He was starting to remember why it had taken him months to call Sandra back; she was so damn giggly. A little worship was okay, but honestly.

He swung his leg out, seemingly carelessly. Alex winced.

"Ouch!"

"Oh, sorry, man." Derek sent him back an innocent smile. "Didn't mean it."

Casey was glaring at him again. He prickled.

This was going to be a long night.


End file.
